A few years ago, there were rumors that a Sandman movie might be in the works. The project never went anywhere, which is probably for the best, because the chance of a film being able to live up to even a shadow of that voluminous masterpiece is close enough to zero that it requires an electron microscope to even see it.

But one good thing has come out of after all. When the pitch was made for the film, a number of sketches were made in order to communicate to the disposable executives just what they were going to see on the screen. This is because obviously there is no other way to show someone what a movie based on a comic book might look like, as there is no visual representation of the story in any way, shape, or form that could be displayed to someone with eyeballs. This bafflement aside, the artist who made said sketches (Jill Thompson, who also did work on Sandman itself) has put up a bunch of those sketches for sale.

Here's a smattering for your enjoyment:

There are still a few of the pieces available at the artist's website, though they cost $800. I tried to buy the rest for the Pajiba citadel, but Dustin cancelled the credit card I borrowed from his room at SXSW because apparently hiring Neil deGrasse Tyson to build me a Tardis is not an approved business expense.